The Power of SHAZAM
S: The Wisdom of Sariel H: The Strength of Hadraniel A: The Power of Azreal Z: The Speed of Zadkiel A: The Stamina of Abaddon M: The Courage of Michael Thousands of years ago the Grigori who were set to watch over man descended from their post to live amongst their charges. They set themselves up as teachers introducing ideas and concepts man was not yet ready for and going amongst the women as they pleased. They gave rise to the Nephelim, half divine giants who ruled with wickedness and terror. To protect man a young shepherd Jedediah was given the power of six angels and with the word SHAZAM became the Champion of Heaven. For many years the champion fought, but the Grigori were powerful and their Nephelim offspring were terrible and a host of Angels lead by Raphael were sent to bind them in Dudael which became the Rock of Eternity. The Champion would serve for centuries until seduced by a demoness and consequently stripped of his powers. He was then placed as warden of the Rock of Eternity, called Dudael, to keep the Grigori and their Nephilim offspring imprisoned. It was during this time he began a serious study of magic en-route to becoming a great sorcerer. The children of Jebediah and the demoness were raised in hell and came to rule their own corners, but in the way of demons always lusting for more. From his post on the Rock the old champion searched for someone to take up his mantle. He found Teth Adam of Kahndaq a proud Jewish king and bestowed upon him the powers of SHAZAM. When the pharaoh Kha-Ef-Re discovered the Scarabaeus Khaji Da and unknowingly brought the Reach from the Subtle Realms to Earth Jedediah sent Teth Adam to Egypt to join with the League of Infinity a group of heroes from across the known world including Kha-Ef-Re, the Atlantean Atlan, the sorcerer Nabu, and the wielders of the Ruby of Life, the Starheart and the Tantu Totem. This League beat back the Reach incursion and would continue to bring justice to the region until the death of Kha-Ef-Re at the hands of Vandal Savage. The wielder of the Ruby of Life was torn apart by the Heart of Darkness and both were blasted across the planet the ruby ending up in South America, the Heart in the south seas. A Thanagarian assassin stranded on Earth and working for Savage killed Kha-Ef-Re's son but was in turn killed by Teth Adam. Kha-Ef-Re's grandson then became pharaoh and carried the assassin's wings. During the reign of Khufu Nabu was banished from the mortal realms, The Mighty Adam was imprisoned for fear he was under the influence of Jedediah's half-demon daughter Blaze, Jedediah's connection to the world was severed leaving him stranded on the Rock of Eternity, and Khufu and his wife Chay-Ara were murdered by the priest Hath-Set under orders from Vandal Savage. Khufu and Chay-Ara were both descended from the homo-magi and killed by a psychoactive Nth metal dagger. This set their souls, and the soul of Hath-Set, on a cycle of rebirth. In 1933 Clarence Charles “C.C.” Batson and his wife Marilyn, archeologists from Chicago working in Egypt with the Cairo Club, took a commission from the industrialist Thaddeus Sivana to discover the burial site of the mythical Jewish warrior Teth Adam. When they did uncover the tomb Sivana's henchman Theodore Adam tried to kill the Batsons with a cave-in and claim the find for his employer. When he opened the tomb however Theo unleashed the spirit of Teth Adam which then tried to overtake his body as Theo was a direct decedent of Teth Adam through his son Hurut. Theo was so wicked that he corrupted the spirit of Teth Adam and overcome with his new power fled into the desert. Jedediah had placed a protection on the tomb should Teth Adam ever be released to empower the nearest warrior of the jewish faith to capture and contain him. C.C. and Marilyn were dying of their injuries in the cave-in but miraculously found themselves healed and empowered by a spirit identifying itself as the Wizard of SHAZAM. The Wizard had intended to only take C.C., but his love for Marilyn was so strong, their souls so entwined, that the power flowed through both of them making them the Captain and Lady Marvel. The wizard told them that while he was still mostly separated from the world the activation of the safeguards had created just enough of a link to the Rock of Eternity for him to appear to them in spirit. He told them they were the Champions of Heaven and while their primary purpose was to recapture Teth Adam they were also protectors of the Jewish people. The Marvels were heroes throughout the second world war having many adventures together, with the Lieutenants Marvel – three reformed criminals brought back to the faith, and the Justice Society. They had two children, Billy and Mary whose natural curiosity and adventurous spirits brought exploits of their own. It came to an end soon after the war in a fierce battle with Dr. Sivana, Mister Atom, Black Adam and Mister Mind in the body of Master Man C.C. and Marilyn disappeared and were thought killed, but were actually imprisoned in the Rock of Finality. In the battle Black Adam was buried and forced into hibernation/suspension, Mr. Atom thought destroyed, Master Man freed of Mister Mind, and the Batson children were trapped in Dr. Sivana's suspendium sphere with the Sivana Family, to eventually be deposited twenty years later. With all the strange energies flying about the Suspendium Sphere didn't quite act as intended. The plan was for the sphere to keep the Sivana family unchanged for some ten years until the public had forgotten about the whole mess and then they would resume their lives. The sphere instead held them for twenty years and first discharged Billy, then Mary three years later - the twins no longer the same age. A year or so after that the sphere failed completely and left the Sivanas on the roof of a parking garage. Billy spent almost two months living on the street until Dudley H. Dudley formerly a Lieutenant Marvel got a message of sorts and sought the boy out. While his “SHAZAM-bago” had been on the fritz since the Captain had disappeared Billy's return to the world had restored Dudley's connection to the power if only enough to get orders from the Wizard. It was Dudley who taught the boy about the Tenth Age of Magic and the history of the Batson family. After 114 days of instruction the boy was sent to the Rock of Eternity for a face-to-face with the Wizard of SHAZAM. The upheavals of the Second World War had brought an end to the Ninth Age of Magic and in the Tenth Age the Rock of Eternity's connection to the Earth was partially restored. Billy followed what he would come to know was the Wisdom of Sariel down an alley that didn't exist to an 'L' stop and train that were impossible. The train would take him through the Subtle Realms to the Rock of Eternity. On the Rock Billy met the old Champion Jedediah who called himself the Wizard of SHAZAM and was bestowed the power of the Angels. When he spoke the magic word SHAZAM twelve year old Billy would become the adult Captain Marvel who just happened to look exactly like his father did in the role. The wizard explained this was do to his father still being tied to the power. Under the tutalage of the wizard and “Uncle” Dudley Billy became a hero. Like his parents Billy would also gain companions in his fight against evil. Freedy Freeman was a big fan of the original Captain and joined Billy as Captain Marvel Jr after being crippled by Captain Nazi. Freddy's brother Christopher would also appear as Kid Eternity, and the former Lieutenant Marvel Willie Fawcett would return as Captain Thunder. Some time after Billy appeared Mary was released from the suspendium sphere and was left alone on the tracks of the 'L' in Chicago. She found a friendly police officer and explained that she was lost and had no idea where her parents had gone. With no known living family Mary was remanded to the state and lived in an orphanage until a woman named Sarah Primm who volunteered at the orphanage and had developed a fondness for Mary eventually convinced her employers, Nick and Nora Bromfield, to adopt the girl. Again it was the Wisdom of Sariel that led Billy to his (now younger) twin sister. After he explained all that had happened while Mary was in the sphere he took her to the Rock of Eternity and the wizard who, now somewhere between alarmed and amused at how the power was spreading, granted Mary the power of SHAZAM. Category:History of the World Category:Power Sources Category:Marvel Family